Europe, here we are!

August 18 - November 4, 2013

Do not change channel.  Do not adjust your set.  You are definitely on my travel blog to France, but with a slight detour through a few other countries.

As seen through our car window

We had a direct flight to Frankfurt which was incredibly better than transferring in Montreal or Toronto as is the case when we land in Paris.  Lufthansa rivals Air Canada for lack of space; we felt very cramped in the seats just behind the wing exit.  In any case, we survived and we even enjoyed the food.

Then started our marathon of seeing parts of Germany, Switzerland and France in a very short period of time.  Let me assure you that we do not have the Trafalgar Bus Tour mettle! Being in a different hotel every night and lugging those suitcases in and out of cramped hotel rooms is not our idea of fun.  We eventually agreed that we were simply doing a reconnaissance tour to figure out what we'd like to visit again.

K's bag: 53 lbs.

 Arriving in a place and trying to find the Tourist Information, then hunting for a hotel, all takes administrative time and the first thing you know, the day is over.  You need a minimum of 2 or 3 days to really get a feel for each place.

What we did realize is that we are not big city tourists.  We would choose a small village over a big city any time!  We also prefer taking a photo of a yummy dessert than a statue in the main square.

Yummy is right!

Marge is not being very cooperative.  That's our built-in GPS in the Peugeot.  (Yes, she has a voice like Marge on the Simpsons.) She is so slow that we have passed the corner before she says "Turn right".  Then her voice sounds all huffy as she tells us, "If possible, do a U-turn".  We'll definitely have to calibrate her.  Karl felt many times that he did better without her help since he has an uncanny knack of knowing where everything is, even though he's never been there!

M's bag: 35 lbs.